Abstract
Two types of islands have formed after annealing a Co-deposited nominally flat $\text{Si}(111)\text{\ensuremath{-}}(5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}2)/\text{Au}$ surface: islands grow on terraces (terrace islands) and on steps (step islands). Upon further annealing, though of the identical kind, step islands outgrow terrace islands and eventually dominate the surface morphology, contrary to what the classical Ostwald ripening theory expects. This intriguing phenomenon of competition between two interconnecting systems is attributed to a vertical lattice mismatch, created by steps buried in step islands, which results in a speedy strain relaxation.
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